‘Sexual self-determination’ is the right that a person can determine and choose one’s sexual behavior freely and responsibly without pressure from other people or customs. Nowadays, opinions diverge on whether prostitution should be legal or whether prostitution is understood as sexual self-determination.
  There are five kinds of prostitution policies: prostitution and brothels are legal/ prostitution is legal, but organized brothels and procuring are not/ prostitution is legal, pimping is not, and brothels are quasi-legal/ buying sex is illegal, but selling is legal/ prostitution is illegal. Korea adopted that prostitution is illegal, but Germany and Austria adopted that prostitution and brothels are legal.
  The situation got worse after special laws on the sex trade were enforced in 2004, so we should enact prostitution laws carefully to avoid this. Next, we need to try to listen to other country’s people about prostitution laws and try to think what kinds of laws would be proper in Korea.

By Shin So-hyeon
sh36@cbnu.ac.kr

Q1. Which policy did your country adopt among the five kinds of prostitution policies? What do most citizens think about that policy?

George Ax(Netherlands): In the Netherlands, prostitution and brothels are legal, though they are officially regulated by the government. Most citizens view prostitution as not a problematic subject and that it should be legal.


Jasmine Norris(U.S.A): In America, we follow the policy that states, “Prostitution is illegal.” Most citizens believe that at the age of consent we should be able to give consent to have sexual relations or sell and/or buy sex as long as it is consensual and not forced

Q2. Do you think that prostitution can be legal based on ‘sexual self-determination’?

George Ax(Netherlands): To answer this question, you have to divide between the conceptual moral aspect and the practical, real world one. When looking at the conceptual aspect, I believe that every person’s highest right(also according to Human Rights Watch) is to have complete control over his or her own person, meaning that they can do whatever the hell they want with their own bodies since it’s inherently their own. The problem that arises if placing this in the theme of prostitution is that it’s uncertain if all women(and men) working in the industry are their completely out of their own free will. Being forced into prostitution or out of result of human trafficking poses a large problem to the legitimacy of the industry. So whereas in the moral concept of being in control over your own body, I agree and think that people should work in prostitution if they want it, but reality shows that it’s hard to regulate these often shady industries and horrible things like human trafficking forces girls from often poor regions into prostitution in other countries. If the UN can crack down on these things and create safe and consensual work environments worldwide, I’m pro legal prostitution

Jasmine Norris(U.S.A): No, I do not think prostitution can be legal by self-determination because young girls especially are put into situations where they are brainwashed into believing that prostituting themselves is the only lifestyle they can live. It starts a cycle of girls and boys who think this lifestyle is normal and, as they grow, they teach this mindset to their children or younger generation and make it seem like this is a normal life, which it is not.